What’s the big deal?

Teams fluctuate. Organizational charts change frequently. Workload is shouldered through various outsourcing firms. People come and go. In other words, your team is very likely fluid, and if we can help you form and organize your team faster and better, then that’s one distraction we’re happy won’t worry you.

The Hollywood model is about precisely this. Rather than attack a problem in terms of “resources” to be used, eManagr thinks in terms of tasks to complete and the people qualified to complete the task.

When a producer creates a movie, she starts with a writer’s script. Often, she has directors with whom she enjoys working, and brings one in who has the time. The roles in the script may also suggest actors these managers have already worked with, and so the cast and crew is built from relationships. Where there isn’t a relationship, the producer wants people with the best reputations.

And that’s all there is to our model. Relationships come first and foremost–you already know how to get in contact with your associates on eManagr. If your circumstances don’t permit any further recruitment, that’s it. If they do, though, you can search for someone with the skill you need and get the people who have the best objective records for getting their projects done reliably.

But that’s a story for the next post.

Meanwhile, today is Memorial Day in the United States. Whatever your politics or belief in any particular war, remember that those who give their lives for their respective countries do so with honorable intentions. Take the opportunity to remember their sacrifices and, as importantly, take time to comfort those who have lost loved ones to wars.

We knew when we launched that many people wouldn’t be willing to use eManagr because there was no easy way to get the project’s status “at a glance.” So, as mentioned a few weeks ago, this was a top feature to add.

At the top of every project page, we have added a link to view the schedule. There, you can see the tasks assigned to each member of the team in priority order, either as a list or as a chart.

The chart should be completely intuitive. Each task is a box with a color that contrasts strongly against its neighbors. It’s width indicates how long the task is likely to take, and a blue horizontal line indicates how close the task is to completion. You can hover over the task for more information, and click through to the task’s detail page.

For example, this is what my own workload will look like for eManagr itself over the next few months:

John's work for eManagr

As I said at the top, it’s not a Gantt chart (though it can be, after we add some related features), but it’s something that a non-technical manager can look at to see how well the team is doing. Give it a try, and tell us what you think.

That should explain everything. You want the actual questions? Picky.

Does the world need another project manager? Does the world need another e-something? Does the world need another quirkily misspelled domain name?

When development started on eManagr, I wanted something special. I wanted a system that would work for us rather than become another burden. In other words, eManagr need to actually manage your team, so that your team can, you know, get to work. It also needs to be a good manager and stay out of your way when you’re working. I’m measuring success only on how well it does that, not how many Microsoft Office features got crammed in.

First things first, eManagr doesn’t waste your time with customization. It looks like a legal pad. Verification takes more time than production. Tasks are more important if they’re shorter and more popular. Live with it, because the hours you spend arguing about how, exactly, to determine importance is a complete waste of time. eManagr might not know better than you, but like the best managers, a good enough decision isn’t up for debate until the real work is done.

Second, eManagr tracks your work. Partly, this is to help you eliminate time-sheets (an upcoming feature). But more importantly, it helps you give a better estimate for future work. Most stakeholders don’t care when something gets done. They really care that you get it done when you said you would, so they can plan around it.

Third, eManagr communicates by e-mail. You know, every time management guru tells you to stop checking your inbox. And you know what? Nobody’s stopping. So as long as you have the bad habit, we make it work for you. Once you create your account, you don’t need to go back to the website for every little thing. Fire off a message, even from your phone on the road, and eManagr will update things for you.

Fourth, we think a project runs smoothest when everybody has a say. Therefore, our priority system is semi-democratic. Everybody on the team can vote on project features, and eManagr will schedule those with the most votes first. However, since dictators can get things done quickly, managers can allow some voters to be “more equal than others.”

Lastly, we don’t know you. You might be the CEO of a multinational corporation. You might be an employee of a start-up. You might participate in Open Source projects. You might be an artist. You might even be a student working on a group project. Because of that variety, our teams use the “Hollywood” model. At any time, you can start a new team and staff it with any other eManagr users. You can ask subordinates, coworkers, friends, family, or consultants to join your team, and immediately assign work to them.

In other words, eManagr directs you and makes suggestions, but above all else, lets you do your job. And that is exactly what I wanted to see.

Is there more work to do? Sure. We have a whole bunch of features that we’ll be rolling out in the coming months. It’s exciting. But it’s also too much material for this post, which is already too long by half.